The Taylorcraft Model D is a light aircraft of the US manufacturer

Taylorcraft Taylorcraft Aviation is an American airplane manufacturer that has been producing aircraft for more than 70 years in several locations. The company builds small single-engined airplanes. The Taylorcraft design is a conventional layout: high- ...

Aviation from the early 1940s.

History

In the years 1940-41, the demand for training machines increased steadily, especially due to inauguration of the government-sponsored Civilian Pilot Training (CPTP). Although Taylorcraft was able to sell a larger number of the side-by-side Model B to the civilian contractors who operated flight schools approved under the program, tandem-seat aircraft were preferred by the military. In 1940, more than half of all machines used for the CPTP were manufactured by the Piper Aircraft Company, whose J-3 had this seating arrangement. To better capture this new training market, Taylorcraft developed the Model D, which took up the tandem seat layout of the earlier

Taylor J-2 The Taylor J-2 Cub (later also known as the Piper J-2 Cub) is an American two-seat light aircraft that was designed and built by the Taylor Aircraft Company. The company became the Piper Aircraft Company and the J-2 was first of a long line of ...

which Piper's J-3 was patterned after. After 200 machines were constructed, production was converted to military orders for the Taylorcraft O-57 liaison plane, re-designated L-2 in April 1942. The first version was the DC-65, which was publicly presented in February 1941 and received the

Type Approval Type approval or certificate of conformity is granted to a product that meets a minimum set of regulatory, technical and safety requirements. Generally, type approval is required before a product is allowed to be sold in a particular country, so ...

on November 25, 1941. The standard engine was the

Continental A65 The Continental O-170 engine is the collective military designation for a family of small aircraft engines, known under the company designation of A50, A65, A75 and A80. The line was designed and built by Teledyne Continental Motors, Continental ...

-8, but a Franklin 4AC-176 (DF-65) or a

Lycoming O-145 The Lycoming O-145 is a family of small, low-horsepower, four-cylinder, air-cooled engines. It was Lycoming Engines' first horizontally opposed aircraft engine and was produced from 1938 until the late 1940s. The family includes the reduction-ge ...

-B2 (DL-65) could also be installed. To identify the equipment with single or dual ignition, the letters S or D have been relocated (eg DL-65S for single-ignition and DL-65D for dual-ignition). The dimensions differed only slightly from those of the model B, only the span was reduced by about 18 cm due to the narrower cabin and the length was increased by 23 cm.

Construction

As with all pre-war Taylorcraft aircraft, the fuselage structure consisted of welded steel tubing, covered in fabric. Taylorcraft tried to utilise as many parts of the Model B as possible, however, this was only partially successful, as the main structural components were not interchangeable between the two patterns and the wing ribs were made of aluminum instead of wood. Because of the anticipated heavier load in the training operation, the airframe also received reinforcements. The tanks were in the wings and fed a collection tank behind the engine. The engine was enclosed in a partial

cowling A cowling (or cowl) is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings ...

leaving the cylinder heads uncovered in the air flow. The machine could be flown from either seat. In the specifications of the designers John Hutmacher and Cameron Lusty was the requirement for a good all-round visibility, whereupon they lowered the upper strap of the trunk compartment (

Longeron In engineering, a longeron or stringer is a load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural fram ...

) at shoulder level of the pilot. When C.G. Taylor saw the first specimen in this form, he ordered it to be undone to restore the typical outward appearance of a Taylorcraft machine. The designers did this by placing a plywood fitting on the upper Longeron. In the later military version L-2A, this "turtle hump" was then removed and replaced by a transparent cladding. Montgomery and Foster, 2006. ''A Field Guide to Airplanes, Third Edition.'' Boston:Houghton Mifflin

Variants

;DC:

;DF:

Franklin 4AC The Franklin Engine Company was an American manufacturer of aircraft engines. Its designs were used primarily in the civilian market, both in fixed wing and helicopter designs. It was briefly directed towards automobile engines as part of the Tuc ...

;DL:

;Auster AOP Mk.I:

Cirrus Major The Blackburn Cirrus Major is a British, inline-four aircraft engine which was developed in the late 1930s, but continued development and production into the 1940s and post war. Design and development The Blackburn Cirrus Major started life as ...

. ;Auster AOP Mk.II:

. ;Auster AOP Mk.III:

. ;Auster AOP Mk.IV:

Lycoming O-290 The Lycoming O-290 is a dual-ignition, four-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed aircraft engine. It was first run in 1939, and entered production three years later. A common variant of the type is the O-290-G, a single-ignition model wh ...

. ;Auster AOP Mk.V:

. ;O-57: Original designation, re-designated as L-2 in the Liaison series. ;L-2:L-2A with open cowling, L-2M with closed cowling.

History

Construction

Variants

Specifications (DC)

See also

References

Further reading